Where Creatives and Culture Collide

HOLD UPPP! I know I”ve been gone for a while. It’s crazy mysterious how life works. I literally took an unexpected and unconscious hiatus from the one thing I love…writing and connecting with you. However, who knew that it would take that for me to enter into the next dimension of my creativity and life mission? If you would just lend your eyes and mind, I want to briefly share with you the lessons and blessings bestowed upon me over my last 6 month absence.

Nine months ago, I made an emotional decision to leave my home of two years, Houston, and return to Alabama closer to family. Before I left for my freshman year of college some 6 or 7 years ago, I told myself that I was never coming back to AL, so this was a self-infecting “L” I was taking. To keep it short, I came back to Alabama and all HELL broke loose. I had been blessed to own a hookah business (which is a struggle to maintain but, hey, I am being as transparent as possible, so excuse me while I keep it real) that I run at a local club. My name was quickly growing due to my Alabama ties. I ended up getting into MC’ing at night clubs, I gained an industry manager, and what seemed like a pretty good equation all together. Wrong! I was overworked, underpaid, and uninspired.

I can not lie, when these things started happening, it was all lit! Partying, girls, hosting, and literally doing what you loved to do every single day gave me a high that one could only dream of…or was I just realizing that the life I wanted, the one that we want for ourselves, is really obtainable. I am still figuring that part out. LESSON #1…I AM ENOUGH. I have the God given talent and wisdom that it takes to reach a lifestyle that my HEART desired. I JUST HAVE TO DO IT. But, to whom much is given, much is required. So, jus tlike me, when you finally get that dream job or relationship you want, just know that it will take a great amount of skill and effort to maintain.

That’s when s**t hit the fan! I lost my girlfriend, my car, and I found myself sleeping in my niece’s Minnie Mouse bed. “L” On top of all that, shortly after I got here, my mom had a stroke. Keep in mind that, I was still bumming rides and borrowing family members cars to go host at different clubs and events. Oh yea, and I had to get a full time job in a retail store so I was literally up all day. Then I started interning at 95.7 Jamz. Lit, right? Noooooo! I had no vehicle to really get to the station. So I made up lies on why I couldn’t get there. In my defense, my schedule was busy with my full time job. To have opportunities on the line and because I didn’t “have my shit together,” everything was spiraling out of control. BUT, I was blessed to have mentors that warned me about people who gain success but aren’t spiritually and emotionally strong enough to handle the burdens that come with it. So, I knew I couldn’t go out like that. One of my close friends told me something that would answer to me “not having my shit together…”ADULT THE RIGHT WAY.”

LESSON #2: PUSH THROUGH! I went into this really depressed stage. My vibrations were super low. I was verbally attacking everyone that rubbed me the wrong way, it was just weird and unlike me. Honestly, truly, I have no idea “how” I came out of all this. Well, yes I do, God! But for me, it seemed like time was just going and I had no control over it. Not physical time, but my time. As nervous and scared I was to be hosting in a nightclub, which was always a dream of mine but I knew I was too mentally weak to ever do so, I did it. As nervous as I was to figure out how to get another car, I did it. As much as I didn’t want to go through the process of finding an apartment, I did it. I moved home to save money and grow my career so the plan was to crash with my family to save money until I got to where I needed to be. That didn’t last long. I found that I suffered from depression and anxiety. Literally, before an event I would just freak out so bad. It’s weird because this is the chosen field of my craft. How could I be this nervous to do what I love to do. Again, this period of my life was just unreal. I soon learned that nerves are good.

So, MY TIME NEVER STOPPED, and nor did I. I kept fighting and kept making it happen. I PUSHED THROUGH! Even with all this stuff going on around me, effortlessly and unconsciously, I was still operating as if I had all the means to do so, even when I didn’t. IT WAS MY TIME. Which, I then learned that “my time” wasn’t on “my time.” PLEASE REREAD THAT LAST LINE. Honestly, faith is the key! Not worrying will bring so many blessings!

Check this out. When I first moved back to Alabama, I was in a radio contest in Montgomery. You couldn’t tell me I wasn’t going to when. Yep, I lost! So when I got the internship at 95. 7 Jamz, I was some what excited because all wasn’t lost or at least, that ’s how I felt. Until, I lost the internship! “L” On top of that, one of my classmates from Jackson State was in the contest, as well.. Don’t worry, she lost too! However, a little time passed and she ended up returning to be the new Midday Diva for the same station! Talk about the glory of God and proof just how crazy this industry works! I was super excited for her, but damn, all the people that I started this journey with was getting on and I was still out here “auditioning.” A former grad school classmate of mine was on a freaking morning radio show in Dallas, and shit my ex was Dj’ing for Justin Combs, Diddy’s son. So yea, I was super ego shot!

It was alllll apart of the divine plan, though! To not make this super lengthy because I have already taken up a lot of your time, I ended up on the radio as an official jock! The program director of the radio contest I was in, put a little birdie in the market and before I knew it I had an audition. This time, was MY TIME and I learned that all things were working for my good! So, be sure to tune in to #TheFluentXperience with me, Kris Campbell, on the #1 station for Hip-Hop, R&B, and Throwbacks, 95. 7 JAMZ! (Who knew that “fluent,” something that I started in undergrad, would make it this far.) This platform has given me the opportunity to connect with people and share stories of inspiration while serving the community as a changed agent.

Since then, I’ve been living my dream everyday and getting my life together. Got the whip, a crib, back hosting in the clubs, local events, and actually throwing my own events now. And it was everything I imagined it to be. Fun fact: I got the car, apartment, and job over the course of three days. Literally, my life changed in three days. Do not get frustrated by the journey. It can happen for you any second now.

I said all that to say, stay the course. It’s going to happen for you. You just have to do your part and keep working. Almost like a life hazing. You have to go through things to see the light. Push through. I WAS NUMB THIS ENTIRE PROCESS. I was taking on emotion I never knew I could feel…but they all felt the same. That’s when I knew it was a test. And I passed it! Be the best you can be under any situation. Study your craft and never stop learning. Use your passion for the betterment of mankind and not your own gratification. I promise you these things are key. FOCUS. Yes, it will be scary. Yes, you still have to do it…and you will. I believe in you.

1 Comment

Kyia Mostella

Wow. You’ve definitely inspired me to 1. Continue pushing through the struggle I’ve found myself in the past couple years and 2. Share my story with the world. Kudos to you my man! Stay focused and do it for the team!